At 5:30 PM on Thursday, I walked down the aisle on Garrett's arm.
Kaitlyn had tried to change the pairings.
Wyatt's mother had already printed the programs.
So there I was.
The maid of honor, in dusty blue.
The groomsman, in gray, wearing the cologne I'd bought him.
Yadkin Ridge Barn had string lights and 140 white folding chairs.
Every chair had a guest in it.
Every guest had a phone.
Garrett kept his elbow stiff.
He smiled at the rows like it was a red carpet.
"Smile, Cal."
"It's a camera-heavy day."
"It's Kaitlyn's day," I said.
"Eyes front."
We split up at the arbor.
I took my place and held Kaitlyn's bouquet.
Rhett sat in the back row.
The Ospreys had the day off.
His tie belonged to Wyatt's dad and had been handed over in the parking lot.
It was too short.
He didn't seem to mind.
Brielle sat two rows in front of him, in teal.
Kaitlyn had picked a Thursday because it saved them $9,000.
She cried through her vows anyway.
At 8:10 PM, the toasts started.
Wyatt's brother went first.
Then Garrett stood up and asked the DJ for the mic.
Nobody had asked him to give a toast.
He tapped the mic twice.
"Wyatt, man."
"Love you, brother."
"Kaitlyn, you're the best thing that ever happened to him."
He raised his glass.
"May your kiss cam go better than mine."
The DJ hit an air horn.
An uncle at table nine stood up and aimed his phone light at me.
A few more phones lit up.
The barn laughed.
Not everybody laughed.
Enough of them did.
I sat at the head table in a little white circle of light.
I kept my hands folded on the tablecloth.
Under the table, Kaitlyn's hand found my knee.
Garrett wasn't done.
He waved Brielle up out of her seat.
She came onto the dance floor in her teal and tucked herself under his arm.
"Everybody, this is Bri."
"Tell them how we met, babe."
Brielle giggled at the room.
"Okay, so it's literally fate."
"I was just at the game—"
I unfolded my hands.
"Which seat, Brielle?"
I didn't say it loudly.
I said it the way I ask who wants to be line leader.
The mic was still live in Garrett's hand.
Brielle leaned into it, happy to answer.
"113, Row A."
"Garrett got me that seat August twenty-first—"
She stopped.
Garrett's face had done something.
The barn went silent.
At table four, a fork hit a plate.
"August twenty-first," I said.
"Two weeks before he dumped me."
The uncle's phone light went down.
A bridesmaid's mother didn't bother whispering.
"He bought her SEAT?!"
"Okay, no," Garrett said into the mic.
"She's interrogating my girlfriend at a wedding!"
A chair scraped in the back.
Rhett had walked up the side of the dance floor.
He stopped beside my chair.
He didn't touch me.
"She asked one question."
Then he just stood there in his short tie.
Garrett opened his mouth.
He looked at Brielle.
Brielle looked at the floor.
Kaitlyn leaned close to me.
"Want him gone?"
"No," I said.
"Let him explain."
Everybody waited.
Garrett handed the mic back to the DJ.
He didn't explain.
He said something about traffic.
He and Brielle left before the cake.
Nobody played them out.
After a long second, the DJ put on a slow song.
Wyatt's grandmother asked Rhett to dance.
He told her yes, ma'am.
I saved two slices of cake in a napkin.
At 9:02 PM, my phone lit up on the tablecloth.
Somebody at the wedding had posted a clip.
he bought her seat 2 weeks before the kiss cam 💀
At 9:40 PM, I climbed into Rhett's truck in my dusty blue dress.
I handed him a slice of cake.
"Wyatt's grandmother says you lead well."
"Wyatt's grandmother leads."
He ate the cake in three bites.
"Can we take the long way?" I asked.
"Got all night."
He turned off the highway onto a two-lane road with no lights.
I scrolled my phone in the dark.
The clip had been shared four thousand times already.
I didn't read the comments.
I opened my email instead.
I'd kept Garrett's calendar for two years.
He forwarded me everything so I could put it on there.
I searched for "Ospreys."
There it was.
Fwd: Your Order Is Confirmed · Section 112, Row F, Seats 7–8 · $236.00
Two seats.
$118 each.
He'd sent it to me with one word.
anniversary 😘
I checked the date on the original order.
Fri, Aug 21, 2026
I read it twice.
Rhett glanced over.
"What?"
I turned the screen so he could see the date.
Brielle had said August twenty-first.
Same day he bought my seat.